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We consider the target space theory of bosonic and heterotic string theory to first order in $\alpha'$ compactified to three dimensions, using a formulation that is manifestly T-duality invariant under ${\rm O}(d,d,\mathbb{R})$ with $d=23$ and $d=7$, respectively. While the two-derivative supergravity exhibits a symmetry enhancement to the U-duality group ${\rm O}(d+1,d+1)$, the continuous group is known to be broken to ${\rm O}(d,d,\mathbb{R})$ by the first $\alpha'$ correction. We revisit this observation by computing the full effective actions in three dimensions to first order in $\alpha'$ by dualizing the vector gauge fields. We give a formally ${\rm O}(d+1,d+1)$ invariant formulation by invoking a vector compensator, and we observe a chiral pattern that allows one to reconstruct the bosonic action from the heterotic action. Furthermore, we obtain a particular massive deformation by integrating out the external $B$ field. This induces a novel Chern-Simons term based on composite connections that, remarkably, is ${\rm O}(d+1,d+1)$ invariant to leading order in the deformation parameter., Comment: 35 pages

We consider three-dimensional Quantum Electrodynamics in the presence of a Chern-Simons term at level $k$ and $N_f$ flavors, in the limit of large $N_f$ and $k$ with $k/N_f$ fixed. We consider either bosonic or fermionic matter fields, with and without quartic terms at criticality: the resulting theories are critical and tricritical bosonic QED$_3$, Gross-Neveu and fermionic QED$_3$. For all such theories we compute the effective potentials and the $\beta$ functions of classically marginal couplings, at the leading order in the large $N_f$ limit and to all orders in $k/N_f$ and in the couplings. We determine the RG fixed points and discuss the quantum stability of the corresponding vacua. While critical bosonic and fermionic QED$_3$ are always stable CFTs, we find that tricritical bosonic and Gross-Neveu QED$_3$ exist as stable CFTs only for specific values of $k/N_f$. Finally, we discuss the phase diagrams of these theories as a function of their relevant deformations., Comment: 10 pages, 4 figures

We analyze the supersymmetry transformations of gauged $SO(4)$ supergravity coupled to extra hypermultiplets in three dimensions, and find large families of smooth BPS solutions that preserve four supersymmetries. These BPS solutions are part of the consistent truncation of some families of six-dimensional superstrata. From the three-dimensional perspective, these solutions give rise to "smoothly-capped BTZ" geometries. We show how the twisting of the spin connection, the holomorphy of the fields, and the Chern-Simons connections all play an essential role in the existence of these supersymmetric solutions. This paper also closes the circle on the consistent truncation of superstrata, showing precisely how every feature of the superstratum enters into the three-dimensional BPS structure., Comment: 37 pages; corrected typos and a sign in equation (2.67)

Topological string theory near the conifold point of a Calabi-Yau threefold gives rise to factorially divergent power series which encode the all-genus enumerative information. These series lead to infinite towers of singularities in their Borel plane (also known as "peacock patterns"), and we conjecture that the corresponding Stokes constants are integer invariants of the Calabi-Yau threefold. We calculate these Stokes constants in some toric examples, confirming our conjecture and providing in some cases explicit generating functions for the new integer invariants, in the form of q-series. Our calculations in the toric case rely on the TS/ST correspondence, which promotes the asymptotic series near the conifold point to spectral traces of operators, and makes it easier to identify the Stokes data. The resulting mathematical structure turns out to be very similar to the one of complex Chern-Simons theory. In particular, spectral traces correspond to state integral invariants and factorize in holomorphic/anti-holomorphic blocks., Comment: 51 pages, 11 figures, typos corrected, new clarification added

We consider a class of tripartite systems for which two $d$-dimensional QFTs are cross-coupled via a third $d+1$-dimensional "messenger" QFT. We analyse in detail the example of a pair of one-dimensional matrix quantum mechanics, coupled via a two-dimensional theory of the BF-type and compute its partition function and simple correlators. This construction is extendible in higher dimensions, using a Chern-Simons "messenger" theory. In all such examples, the exact partition function acquires a form, speculated to correspond to systems dual to Euclidean wormholes and the cross correlators are sufficiently soft and consistent with analogous gravitational calculations. Another variant of the tripartite system is studied, where the messenger theory is described by a non-self-interacting (matrix)-field, reaching similar conclusions. While the Euclidean theories we consider are perfectly consistent, the two possible analytic continuations into Lorentzian signature (messenger vs. boundary QFT directions) of the tripartite models, reveal physical features and "pathologies" resembling those of the expected Lorentzian gravitational backgrounds., Comment: 89 pages, discussion on the Hilbert space structure, published version

We revisit the relation between the anomalies in four and six dimensions and the Chern-Simons couplings one dimension below. While the dimensional reduction of chiral theories is well-understood, the question which three and five-dimensional theories can come from a general circle reduction, and are hence liftable, is more subtle. We argue that existence of an anomaly cancellation mechanism is a necessary condition for liftability. In addition, the anomaly cancellation and the CS couplings in six and five dimensions respectively determine the central charges of string-like BPS objects that cannot be consistently decoupled from gravity, a.k.a. supergravity strings. Following the completeness conjecture and requiring that their worldsheet theory is unitary imposes bounds on the admissible theories. We argue that for the anomaly-free six-dimensional theories it is more advantageous to study the unitarity constraints obtained after reduction to five dimensions. In general these are slightly more stringent and can be cast in a more geometric form, highly reminiscent of the Kodaira positivity condition (KPC). Indeed, for the F-theoretic models which have an underlying Calabi-Yau threefold these can be directly compared. The unitarity constraints (UC) are in general weaker than KPC, and maybe useful in understanding the consistent models without F-theoretic realisation. We catalogue the cases when UC is more restrictive than KPC, hinting at more refined hidden structure in elliptic Calabi-Yau threefolds with certain singularity structure., 47 pages

Three-dimensional Yang-Mills theory allows for a deformation quadratic in the field strengths which can not be integrated to a local action without auxiliary fields. Yet, its covariant divergence consistently vanishes after iterating the equation, realizing a spin-1 analogue of `minimal massive gravity', which has been dubbed `third way consistent'. In this note, we show that after dualization of the three-dimensional gauge fields, the model possesses a natural action as a Chern-Simons coupled gauged sigma model. In this dual formulation, coupling to matter and to gravity becomes straightforward. As a direct application, we derive the coupling of the model to N=1 supergravity., Comment: 8 pages

The structure of the five-dimensional Tachyon-Chern-Simons action and its relevance to single-baryon states in the context of the V-QCD models for holographic QCD with backreacting flavor are analyzed. The most general form of the Tachyon-Chern-Simons 5-form, compatible with symmetries and flavor anomalies is determined. It is the sum of a non-trivial gauge-invariant 5-dimensional form and a non-invariant closed 5-form that reproduces the flavor anomalies. Single-baryon solutions of the gravity theory, arising from the DBI plus Tachyon-Chern-Simons actions are considered. The baryon is realised as a bulk axial instanton. The baryon ansatz and the field equations are derived and the boundary conditions are determined, which ensure that the solution has finite boundary energy and unit baryon charge. The boundary baryon number, which is computed from the universal (closed) part of the Tachyon-Chern-Simons action, is shown to coincide with the bulk axial instanton number., 42 pages + Appendix, 2 figures, Accepted for publication in JHEP

We show that the phase spaces of a large family of line operators in 4d Chern-Simons theory with $\text{GL}_n$ gauge group are given by Cherkis bow varieties with $n$ crosses. These line operators are characterized by Hanany-Witten type brane constructions involving D3, D5, and NS5 branes in an $\Omega$-background. Linking numbers of the five-branes and mass parameters for the D3 brane theories determine the phase spaces and in special cases they correspond to vacuum moduli spaces of 3d $\mathcal{N}=4$ quiver theories. Examples include line operators that conjecturally create T, Q, and L-operators in integrable spin chains., Comment: 41+5 pages. v2: Added references

We present a Lagrangian formulation for ${\cal N}=8$ superconformal field theories in three spacetime dimensions that is general enough to encompass infinite-dimensional gauge algebras that generally go beyond Lie algebras. To this end we employ Chern-Simons theories based on Leibniz algebras, which give rise to L$_{\infty}$ algebras and are defined on the dual space $\frak{g}^*$ of a Lie algebra $\frak{g}$ by means of an embedding tensor map $\vartheta :\frak{g}^*\rightarrow \frak{g}$. We show that for the Lie algebra $\frak{sdiff}_3$ of volume-preserving diffeomorphisms on a 3-manifold there is a natural embedding tensor defining a Leibniz algebra on the space of one-forms. Specifically, we show that the cotangent bundle to any 3-manifold with a volume-form carries the structure of a (generalized) Courant algebroid. The resulting ${\cal N}=8$ superconformal field theories are shown to be equivalent to Bandos-Townsend theories. We show that the theory based on $S^3$ is an infinite-dimensional generalization of the Bagger-Lambert-Gustavsson model that in turn is a consistent truncation of the full theory. We also review a Scherk-Schwarz reduction on $S^2\times S^1$, which gives the super-Yang-Mills theory with gauge algebra $\frak{sdiff}_2$, and we construct massive deformations., 32 pages, v2: minor changes, version to appear in JHEP

We classify AdS$_3$ solutions preserving $\mathcal{N}=(8,0)$ supersymmetry in ten and eleven dimensions and find the local form of each of them. These include the AdS$_3\times$S$^6$ solution of \cite{Dibitetto:2018ftj} and the embeddings of AdS$_3$ into AdS$_4\times$S$^7$, AdS$_5\times$S$^5$, AdS$_7/\mathbb{Z}_k\times$S$^4$ and its IIA reduction within AdS$_7$. More interestingly we find solutions preserving the superconformal algebras $\mathfrak{f}_4$, $\mathfrak{su}(1,1|4)$, $\mathfrak{osp}(4^*|4)$ on certain squashings of the 7-sphere. These solutions asymptote to AdS$_4\times$S$^7$ and are promising candidates for holographic duals to defects in Chern-Simons matter theories., 43 pages + appendices. v2: published version

We study the effective potentials for various probe branes surrounding AdS$_4$ black holes with massive halos in consistent truncations of M-theory on the Sasaki-Einstein$_7$ manifolds $Q^{111}$ and $M^{111}$. These probes are either M2 branes extended in spacetime or "particle-like" probes such as internally wrapped M2 branes and, upon reduction to type IIA string theory, D6 branes corresponding to baryon operators in the dual Chern-Simons theory. We find both global and local minima of the potential outside the horizon, indicating the existence of stable and metastable multicenter AdS black holes in the extreme mass ratio regime, at fixed temperature and charges. For the planar case, we also find an instability towards nucleation of spacetime-filling M2 branes. With this analysis, we address some open questions on the holographic description of glassy phases of matter., Comment: Typos fixed

Among the allowed representations of extended supersymmetry in six dimensions there are exotic chiral multiplets that, instead of a graviton, contain mixed-symmetry spin-2 tensor fields. Notably, an $\mathcal{N}=(4,0)$ multiplet has a four index exotic graviton and it was conjectured that an interacting theory based on this multiplet could arise as a strong coupling limit of M theory compactified on $T^6$. We present an algebraic study of these multiplets and their possible embedding into the framework of exceptional field theory, finding in particular that the six-dimensional momenta do not correspond to a conventional spacetime section. When compactified on a circle, the six-dimensional multiplets give rise to the same degrees of freedom as five-dimensional supergravity theories with the same number of supersymmetries. However, by considering anomalies (computed using the product multiplets construction) and the generation of Chern-Simons couplings, we find reason to doubt that their dynamics will agree with the five-dimensional gravity theories. We propose an alternative picture, similar to F-theory, in which particular fixed-volume $T^3$-fibered spacetimes play a central role, suggesting that only on compactification to three-dimensions will one make contact with the dynamics of supergravity., 77 pages

We show that the phase space of three-dimensional gravity contains two layers of dualities: between diffeomorphisms and a notion of "dual diffeomorphisms" on the one hand, and between first order curvature and torsion on the other hand. This is most elegantly revealed and understood when studying the most general Lorentz-invariant first order theory in connection and triad variables, described by the so-called Mielke-Baekler Lagrangian. By analyzing the quasi-local symmetries of this theory in the covariant phase space formalism, we show that in each sector of the torsion/curvature duality there exists a well-defined notion of dual diffeomorphism, which furthermore follows uniquely from the Sugawara construction. Together with the usual diffeomorphisms, these duals form at finite distance, without any boundary conditions, and for any sign of the cosmological constant, a centreless double Virasoro algebra which in the flat case reduces to the BMS$_3$ algebra. These algebras can then be centrally-extended via the twisted Sugawara construction. This shows that the celebrated results about asymptotic symmetry algebras are actually generic features of three-dimensional gravity at any finite distance. They are however only revealed when working in first order connection and triad variables, and a priori inaccessible from Chern-Simons theory. As a bonus, we study the second order equations of motion of the Mielke-Baekler model, as well as the on-shell Lagrangian. This reveals the duality between Riemannian metric and teleparallel gravity, and a new candidate theory for three-dimensional massive gravity which we call teleparallel topologically massive gravity., 41+25 pages; v2: appendix D on Kosmann derivative and symplectic symmetries added, references added

In this paper we study the Real Gromov-Witten theory of local 3-folds over Real curves. We show that this gives rise to a 2-dimensional Klein TQFT defined on an extension of the category of unorientable surfaces. We use this structure to completely solve the theory by providing a closed formula for the local RGW invariants in terms of representation theoretic data, extending earlier results of Bryan and Pandharipande. As a consequence we obtain the local version of the real Gopakumar-Vafa formula that expresses the connected real Gromov-Witten invariants in terms of integer invariants. In the case of the resolved conifold the partition function of the RGW invariants agrees with that of the SO/Sp Chern-Simons theory., Comment: 47 pages

Journal of physics / A 54(43), 435401 (2021). doi:10.1088/1751-8121/ac2716, We consider 5d supersymmetric gauge theories with unitary groups in the $\Omega$-background and study codim-2/4 BPS defects supported on orthogonal planes intersecting at the origin along a circle. The intersecting defects arise upon implementing the most generic Higgsing (geometric transition) to the parent higher dimensional theory, and they are described by pairs of 3d supersymmetric gauge theories with unitary groups interacting through 1d matter at the intersection. We explore the relations between instanton and generalized vortex calculus, pointing out a duality between intersecting defects subject to the $\Omega$-background and a deformation of supergroup gauge theories, the exact supergroup point being achieved in the self-dual or unrefined limit. Embedding our setup into refined topological strings and in the simplest case when the parent 5d theory is Abelian, we are able to identify the supergroup theory dual to the intersecting defects as the supergroup version of refined Chern-Simons theory via open/closed duality. We also discuss the BPS/CFT side of the correspondence, finding an interesting large rank duality with super-instanton counting., Published by IOP Publ., Bristol

The quantization of the Teichm\"uller theory has led to the formulation of the so-called Teichm\"uller TQFT for 3-manifolds. In this paper we initiate the study of "supersymmetrization" of the Teichm\"uller TQFT, which we call the super Teichm\"uller spin TQFT. We obtain concrete expressions for the partition functions of the super Teichm\"uller spin TQFT for a class of spin 3-manifold geometries, by taking advantage of the recent results on the quantization of the super Teichm\"uller theory. We then compute the perturbative expansions of the partition functions, to obtain perturbative invariants of spin 3-manifolds. We also comment on the relations of the super Teichm\"uller spin TQFT to 3-dimensional Chern-Simons theories with complex gauge groups, and to a class of 3d N=2 theories arising from the compactifications of the M5-branes., Comment: 39 pages, 12 figures, v2: typos corrected

International audience; In Paper I [F. Thuillier, “3D topological models and Heegaard splitting I: Partition function,” J. Math. Phys. 60, 32 (2019)], a construction of the smooth Deligne–Beilinson cohomology groups HDp(M) on a closed 3-manifold M represented by a Heegaard splitting XL ∪fXR was presented. Then, the partition functions of the U(1) Chern–Simons and BF Quantum field theories were determined from this construction. In this second and concluding article, we stay in the context of a Heegaard spitting of M to define Deligne–Beilinson 1-currents whose equivalent classes form the elements of HD1(M)⋆, the Pontryagin dual of HD1(M). Finally, we use singular fields to first recover the partition functions of the U(1) Chern–Simons and BF quantum field theories and next to determine the link invariants defined by these theories. The difference between the use of smooth and singular fields is also discussed.

In the approach recently proposed by K. Costello and M. Yamazaki, which is based on a four-dimensional variant of Chern-Simons theory, we derive a simple and unifying two-dimensional form for the action of many integrable $\sigma$-models which are known to admit descriptions as affine Gaudin models. This includes both the Yang-Baxter deformation and the $\lambda$-deformation of the principal chiral model. We also give an interpretation of Poisson-Lie $T$-duality in this setting and derive the action of the $\mathsf{E}$-model., Comment: 37 pages

Particle production in strong electromagnetic fields is a recurring theme in solid state physics, heavy ion collisions, early universe cosmology and formal quantum field theory. In this paper we discuss the Dirac equation in a background of parallel electric and magnetic fields. We review the Schwinger particle production rate, clarify the emergence of the chiral anomaly equation and compute the induced current of charged fermions. We distinguish the contributions from non-perturbative particle production, from the running of the gauge coupling constant and from non-linearities in the effective QED Lagrangian, and clarify how these contributions arise within a single framework. We apply these results to axion inflation. A Chern-Simons coupling between the pseudoscalar particle driving cosmic inflaton and an abelian gauge group induces a dual production of gauge fields and charged fermions. We show that the resulting scalar and gravitational wave power spectra strongly depend on the fermion mass., 45 pages, 9 figures; v2: typos fixed, published version

In this work we propose a simple and systematic framework for including edge modes in gauge theories on manifolds with boundaries. We argue that this is necessary in order to achieve the factorizability of the path integral, the Hilbert space and the phase space, and that it explains how edge modes acquire a boundary dynamics and can contribute to observables such as the entanglement entropy. Our construction starts with a boundary action containing edge modes. In the case of Maxwell theory for example this is equivalent to coupling the gauge field to boundary sources in order to be able to factorize the theory between subregions. We then introduce a new variational principle which produces a systematic boundary contribution to the symplectic structure, and thereby provides a covariant realization of the extended phase space constructions which have appeared previously in the literature. When considering the path integral for the extended bulk + boundary action, integrating out the bulk degrees of freedom with chosen boundary conditions produces a residual boundary dynamics for the edge modes, in agreement with recent observations concerning the contribution of edge modes to the entanglement entropy. We put our proposal to the test with the familiar examples of Chern-Simons and BF theory, and show that it leads to consistent results. This therefore leads us to conjecture that this mechanism is generically true for any gauge theory, which can therefore all be expected to posses a boundary dynamics. We expect to be able to eventually apply this formalism to gravitational theories., 50 pages, 1 figure, published version

The most detailed constructions of microstate geometries, and particularly of superstrata, are done using $\mathcal{N} = (1,0)$ supergravity coupled to two anti-self-dual tensor multiplets in six dimensions. We show that an important sub-sector of this theory has a consistent truncation to a particular gauged supergravity in three dimensions. Our consistent truncation is closely related to those recently laid out by Samtleben and Sarioglu (arXiv:1907.08413 [hep-th]), which enables us to develop complete uplift formulae from the three-dimensional theory to six dimensions. We also find a new family of multi-mode superstrata, indexed by two arbitrary holomorphic functions of one complex variable, that live within our consistent truncation and use this family to provide extensive tests of our consistent truncation. We discuss some of the future applications of having an intrinsically three-dimensional formulation of a significant class of microstate geometries., Comment: 41 pages

DESY Virtual Theory Forum, Hamburg, Germany, 22 Sep 2020 - 25 Sep 2020; Journal of cosmology and astroparticle physics 2009(09), 009 (1-31) (2020). doi:10.1088/1475-7516/2020/09/009, Axion inflation entails a coupling of the inflaton field to gauge fields through the Chern-Simons term. This results in a strong gauge field production during inflation, which backreacts on the inflaton equation of motion. Here we show that this strongly non-linear system generically experiences a resonant enhancement of the gauge field production, resulting in oscillatory features in the inflaton velocity as well as in the gauge field spectrum. The gauge fields source a strongly enhanced scalar power spectrum at small scales, exceeding previous estimates. For appropriate parameter choices, the collapse of these over-dense regions can lead to a large population of (light) primordial black fholes with remarkable phenomenological consequences., Published by IOP, London

The $q$-deformed loop gravity framework was introduced as a canonical formalism for the Turaev-Viro model (with $\Lambda < 0$), allowing to quantize 3D Euclidean gravity with a (negative) cosmological constant using a quantum deformation of the gauge group. We describe its application to the 2-torus, explicitly writing the $q$-deformed gauge symmetries and deriving the reduced physical phase space of Dirac observables, which leads back to the Goldman brackets for the moduli space of flat connections. Furthermore it turns out that the $q$-deformed loop gravity can be derived through a gauge fixing from the Fock-Rosly bracket, which provides an explicit link between loop quantum gravity (for $q$ real) and the combinatorial quantization of 3d gravity as a Chern-Simons theory with non-vanishing cosmological constant $\Lambda, Comment: 26 pages, 12 figures

A general method for the construction of smooth flat connections on 3-manifolds is introduced. The procedure is strictly connected with the deduction of the fundamental group of a manifold M by means of a Heegaard splitting presentation of M. For any given matrix representation of the fundamental group of M, a corresponding flat connection A on M is specified. It is shown that the associated classical Chern-Simons invariant assumes then a canonical form which is given by the sum of two contributions: the first term is determined by the intersections of the curves in the Heegaard diagram, and the second term is the volume of a region in the representation group which is determined by the representation of pi_1(M) and by the Heegaard gluing homeomorphism. Examples of flat connections in topologically nontrivial manifolds are presented and the computations of the associated classical Chern-Simons invariants are illustrated., 26 pages, 13 figures

We find the most general solution to Chern-Simons AdS$_3$ gravity in Fefferman-Graham gauge. The connections are equivalent to geometries that have a non-trivial curved boundary, characterized by a 2-dimensional vielbein and a spin connection. We define a variational principle for Dirichlet boundary conditions and find the boundary stress tensor in the Chern-Simons formalism. Using this variational principle as the departure point, we show how to treat other choices of boundary conditions in this formalism, such as, including the mixed boundary conditions corresponding to a $T \bar T$-deformation., prepared for publication in JHEP

We determine the complete spacetime action to first order in $\alpha'$ for the massless fields of bosonic string theory compactified on a $d$-dimensional torus. A fully systematic procedure is developed that brings the action into a minimal form in which all fields apart from the metric enter only with first-order derivatives. T-duality implies that this action must have a global $\mathrm{O}(d,d,\mathbb{R})$ symmetry, and we show that this requires a Green-Schwarz type mechanism for $\alpha'$-deformed $\mathrm{O}(d,d,\mathbb{R})$ transformations. In terms of a frame formalism with ${\rm GL}(d)\times {\rm GL}(d)$ gauge symmetry this amounts to a modification of the three-form curvature by a Chern-Simons term for composite gauge fields., Comment: 9 pages, v2: some corrected typos and corrected Eq. (12). Published version

In this work we present a BMS-like ansatz for a Chern-Simons theory based on the semi-simple enlargement of the Poincar\'e symmetry, also known as AdS-Lorentz algebra. We start by showing that this ansatz is general enough to contain all the relevant stationary solutions of this theory and provides with suitable boundary conditions for the corresponding gauge connection. We find an explicit realization of the asymptotic symmetry at null infinity, which defines a semi-simple enlargement of the $\mathfrak{bms}_3$ algebra and turns out to be isomorphic to three copies of the Virasoro algebra. The flat limit of the theory is discussed at the level of the action, field equations, solutions and asymptotic symmetry., Comment: V2, 22 pages, discussions added in section 3 and 4

Recently an exact duality between topological string and the spectral theory of operators constructed from mirror curves to toric Calabi-Yau threefolds has been proposed. At the same time an exact quantization condition for the cluster integrable systems associated to these geometries has been conjectured. The consistency between the two approaches leads to an infinite set of constraints for the refined BPS invariants of the toric Calabi-Yau threefolds. We prove these constraints for the $Y^{N,m}$ geometries using the $K$-theoretic blowup equations for $SU(N)$ SYM with generic Chern-Simons invariant $m$., Comment: 26 pages, 3 figures, 2 tables, a few typos corrected

This is a compact review of recent results on supersymmetric Wilson loops in ABJ(M) and related theories. It aims to be a quick introduction to the state of the art in the field and a discussion of open problems. It is divided into short chapters devoted to different questions and techniques. Some new results, perspectives and speculations are also presented. We hope this might serve as a baseline for further studies of this topic., Facultad de Ciencias Exactas, Instituto de Física La Plata

Chern-Simons Theories with gauge super-groups appear naturally in string theory and they possess interesting applications in mathematics, e.g. for the construction of knot and link invariants. This paper is the first in a series where we propose a new quantisation scheme for such super-group Chern-Simons theories on 3-manifolds of the form $\Sigma \times \mathbb{R}$. It is based on a simplicial decomposition of an n-punctured Riemann surface $\Sigma=\Sigma_{g,n}$ of genus g and allows to construct observables of the quantum theory for any g and n from basic building blocks, most importantly the so-called monodromy algebra. In this paper we restrict to the torus case, i.e. we assume that $\Sigma = T^2$, and to the gauge super-group G=GL(1|1). We construct the corresponding space of quantum states for the integer level k Chern-Simons theory along with an explicit representation of the modular group SL(2,Z) on these states. The latter is shown to be equivalent to the Lyubachenko-Majid action on the centre of a restricted version of the quantised universal enveloping algebra of the Lie super-algebra gl(1|1) at the primitive k-th root of unity., Comment: 46 pages

We study macroscopically two dimensional $\mathcal{N}=(2,2)$ supersymmetric gauge theories constructed by compactifying the quiver gauge theories with eight supercharges on a product $\mathbb{T}^{d} \times \mathbb{R}^{2}_{\epsilon}$ of a $d$-dimensional torus and a two dimensional cigar with $\Omega$-deformation. We compute the universal part of the effective twisted superpotential. In doing so we establish the correspondence between the gauge theories, quantization of the moduli spaces of instantons on $\mathbb{R}^{2-d} \times \mathbb{T}^{2+d}$ and singular monopoles on $\mathbb{R}^{2-d} \times \mathbb{T}^{1+d}$, for $d=0,1,2$, and the Yangian $\mathbf{Y}_{\epsilon}(\mathfrak{g}_{\Gamma})$, quantum affine algebra $\mathbf{U}^{\mathrm{aff}}_q(\mathfrak{g}_{\Gamma})$, or the quantum elliptic algebra $\mathbf{U}^{\mathrm{ell}}_{q,p}(\mathfrak{g}_{\Gamma})$ associated to Kac-Moody algebra $\mathfrak{g}_{\Gamma}$ for quiver $\Gamma$., Comment: 83 pages

We discuss a generalization of Chern-Simons theory in three dimensions based on Leibniz (or Loday) algebras, which are generalizations of Lie algebras. Special cases of such theories appear in gauged supergravity, where the Leibniz algebra is defined in terms of the global (Lie) symmetry algebra of the ungauged limit and an embedding tensor. We show that the Leibniz algebra of generalized diffeomorphisms in exceptional field theory can similarly be obtained from a Lie algebra that describes the enhanced symmetry of an `ungauged phase' of the theory. Moreover, we show that a `topological phase' of ${\rm E}_{8(8)}$ exceptional field theory can be interpreted as a Chern-Simons theory for an algebra unifying the three-dimensional Poincar\'e algebra and the Leibniz algebra of ${\rm E}_{8(8)}$ generalized diffeomorphisms., Comment: 37 pages, v2: refs. added, minor corrections, version to appear in Comm.Math.Phys

The (2 + 1)-dimensional Maxwell-Chern-Simons gauge model consisting of two complex scalar fields interacting through a common Abelian gauge field is considered. It is shown that the model has a solution that describes a soliton system consisting of vortex and Q-ball constituents. This two-dimensional soliton system possesses a quantized magnetic flux and a quantized electric charge. Moreover, the soliton system has a nonzero angular momentum. Properties of this vortex-Q-ball system are investigated by analytical and numerical methods. It is found that the system combines properties of a vortex and a Q-ball., 8 pages with 6 figures. arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:1901.00993

We consider theories describing the dynamics of a four-dimensional metric, whose Lagrangian is diffeomorphism invariant and depends at most on second derivatives of the metric. Imposing degeneracy conditions we find a set of Lagrangians that, apart form the Einstein-Hilbert one, are either trivial or contain more than two degrees of freedom. Among the partially degenerate theories, we recover Chern-Simons gravity, endowed with constraints whose structure suggests the presence of instabilities. Then, we enlarge the class of parity violating theories of gravity by introducing new "chiral scalar-tensor theories". Although they all raise the same concern as Chern-Simons gravity, they can nevertheless make sense as low energy effective field theories or, by restricting them to the unitary gauge (where the scalar field is uniform), as Lorentz breaking theories with a parity violating sector., 22 pages, references added, published version

Recently, a non-local yet possibly UV-complete quantum field theory has been constructed by deforming a two-dimensional CFT by the composite operator $J \bar T$, where $J$ is a chiral $U(1)$ current and $\bar T$ is a component of the stress tensor. Assuming the original CFT was a holographic CFT, we work out the holographic dual of its $J \bar T$ deformation. We find that the dual spacetime is still AdS$_3$, but with modified boundary conditions that mix the metric and the Chern-Simons gauge field dual to the $U(1)$ current. We show that when the coefficient of the chiral anomaly for $J$ vanishes, the energy and thermodynamics of black holes obeying these modified boundary conditions precisely reproduce the previously derived field theory spectrum and thermodynamics. Our proposed holographic dictionary can also reproduce the field-theoretical spectrum in presence of the chiral anomaly, upon a certain assumption that we justify. The asymptotic symmetry group associated to these boundary conditions consists of two copies of the Virasoro and one copy of the $U(1)$ Ka\v{c}-Moody algebra, just as before the deformation; the only effect of the latter is to modify the spacetime dependence of the right-moving Virasoro generators, whose action becomes state-dependent and effectively non-local., Comment: v2: added discussion of the chiral anomaly and one appendix, affiliation and grant information updated

We construct novel $7d$ supersymmetric gauge theories which include a Chern-Simons-like term on curved spaces. In order to so, we examine the supersymmetry constraints for E7-branes in type IIA$^*$ theory, rather than making use of an off-shell supergravity. We find two classes of solutions to the constraints, expressed in terms of a $G_2$-structure with non-vanishing intrinsic torsion. The supersymmetric gauge theories are then obtained by coupling flat gauge theory to such supersymmetric backgrounds. Various examples are given, including round and squashed $S^7$ as well as $S^3 \times M_4$ with $M_4$ hyperk\"{a}hler., Comment: 32 pages. v2: Added off-shell formulation. Updated references, minor corrections

We show that 3D gravity, in its pure connection formulation, admits a natural 6D interpretation. The 3D field equations for the connection are equivalent to 6D Hitchin equations for the Chern-Simons 3-form in the total space of the principal bundle over the 3-dimensional base. Turning this construction around one gets an explanation of why the pure connection formulation of 3D gravity exists. More generally, we interpret 3D gravity as the dimensional reduction of the 6D Hitchin theory. To this end, we show that any SU(2) invariant closed 3-form in the total space of the principal SU(2) bundle can be parametrised by a connection together with a 2-form field on the base. The dimensional reduction of the 6D Hitchin theory then gives rise to 3D gravity coupled to a topological 2-form field., Comment: v2: published version, minor changes, 37 pages, no figures

We study the generating functional, the adiabatic curvature and the adiabatic phase for the integer quantum Hall effect (QHE) on a compact Riemann surface. For the generating functional we derive its asymptotic expansion for the large flux of the magnetic field, i.e., for the large degree $k$ of the positive Hermitian line bundle $L^k$. The expansion consists of the anomalous and exact terms. The anomalous terms are the leading terms of the expansion. This part is responsible for the quantization of the adiabatic transport coefficients in QHE. We then identify the non-local (anomalous) part of the expansion with the Quillen metric on the determinant line bundle, and the subleading exact part with the asymptotics of the regularized spectral determinant of the Laplacian for the line bundle $L^k$, at large $k$. Finally, we show how the generating functional of the integer QHE is related to the gauge and gravitational (2+1)d Chern-Simons functionals. We observe the relation between the Bismut-Gillet-Soul\'e curvature formula for the Quillen metric and the adiabatic curvature for the electromagnetic and geometric adiabatic transport of the integer Quantum Hall state. Then we relate the adiabatic phase in QHE to the eta invariant and show that the geometric part of the adiabatic phase is given by the Chern-Simons functional., Comment: 36 pages, v4: greatly expanded version, added: references, Sec. 1.1 and Appendix A with background material, examples in Sec. 2.3 and Sec. 4, Thm. 3 and Sec. 5 expanded with more details on the relation between the adiabatic phase, eta invariant and Chern-Simons functional. To appear in Commun. Math. Phys

A hydrodynamic theory of transport in quantum mechanically phase-disordered superconductors is possible when supercurrent relaxation can be treated as a slow process. We obtain general results for the frequency-dependent conductivity of such a regime. With time-reversal invariance, the conductivity is characterized by a Drude-like peak, with width given by the supercurrent relaxation rate. Using the memory matrix formalism, we obtain a formula for this width (and hence also the dc resistivity) when the supercurrent is relaxed by short range Coulomb interactions. This leads to a new -- effective field theoretic and fully quantum -- derivation of a classic result on flux flow resistance. With strong breaking of time-reversal invariance, the optical conductivity exhibits what we call a `hydrodynamic supercyclotron' resonance. We obtain the frequency and decay rate of this resonance for the case of supercurrent relaxation due to an emergent Chern-Simons gauge field. The supercurrent decay rate in this `topologically ordered superfluid vortex liquid' is determined by the conductivities of the normal component of the liquid. Our work gives a controlled framework for low temperature metallic phases arising from phase-disordered superconductivity., 1 + 44 pages. 2 figures. v2 discussion improved in places. v3 sign errors fixed in section 4

The photon wave equation proposed in terms of the Riemann-Silberstein vector is derived from a first-order Dirac/Weyl-type action principle. It is symmetric w.r.t. duality transformations, but the associated Noether quantity vanishes. Replacing the fields by potentials and using instead a quadratic Klein-Gordon-type Lagrangian allows us to recover the double-Chern-Simons expression of conserved helicity and is shown to be equivalent to recently proposed alternative frameworks. Applied to the potential-modified theory the Dirac/Weyl-type approach yields again zero conserved charge, whereas the Klein-Gordon-type approach applied to the original setting yields Lipkin's "zilch"., Comment: Title changed, the main result clarified and better explained. References added. 13 pages, 1 Table, no figures. To be published in Phys. Lett. A

We derive the holographic entanglement entropy contribution from pure and mixed gravitational Chern-Simons(CS) terms in AdS$_{2k+1}$. This is done through two different methods : first, by a direct evaluation of CS action in a holographic replica geometry and second by a descent of Dong's derivation applied to the corresponding anomaly polynomial. In lower dimensions $(k=1,2)$, the formula coincides with the Wald-Tachikawa formula for black hole entropy from gravitational CS terms. New extrinsic curvature corrections appear for $k\geq 3$ : we give explicit and concise expressions for the two pure gravitational CS terms in AdS$_7$ and present various consistency checks, including agreements with the black hole entropy formula when evaluated at the bifurcation surface., 29 pages + 47 pages of appendices ; v3: Typos corrected, minor corrections and JHEP version

We study to what extent Wilson lines in heterotic Calabi-Yau compactifications lead to non-trivial H-flux via Chern-Simons terms. Wilson lines are basic ingredients for Standard Model constructions but their induced H-flux may affect the consistency of the leading order background geometry and of the two-dimensional worldsheet theory. Moreover H-flux in heterotic compactifications would play an important role for moduli stabilization and could strongly constrain the supersymmetry breaking scale. We show how to compute H-flux and the corresponding superpotential, given an explicit complete intersection Calabi-Yau compactification and choice of Wilson lines. We do so by classifying special Lagrangian submanifolds in the Calabi-Yau, understanding how the Wilson lines project onto these submanifolds, and computing their Chern-Simons invariants. We illustrate our procedure with the quintic hypersurface as well as the split-bicubic, which can provide a potentially realistic three generation model., Comment: 41 pages, 7 figures. v2: Minor corrections, published version

The partition function of ABJ(M) theories on the three-sphere can be regarded as the canonical partition function of an ideal Fermi gas with a non-trivial Hamiltonian. We propose an exact expression for the spectral determinant of this Hamiltonian, which generalizes recent results obtained in the maximally supersymmetric case. As a consequence, we find an exact WKB quantization condition determining the spectrum which is in agreement with numerical results. In addition, we investigate the factorization properties and functional equations for our conjectured spectral determinants. These functional equations relate the spectral determinants of ABJ theories with consecutive ranks of gauge groups but the same Chern-Simons coupling., Comment: 29 pages, 3 figures. v2: minor corrections and clarifications added

We revisit the definition of the 6j-symbols from the modular double of U_q(sl(2,R)), referred to as b-6j symbols. Our new results are (i) the identification of particularly natural normalization conditions, and (ii) new integral representations for this object. This is used to briefly discuss possible applications to quantum hyperbolic geometry, and to the study of certain supersymmetric gauge theories. We show, in particular, that the b-6j symbol has leading semiclassical asymptotics given by the volume of a non-ideal tetrahedron. We furthermore observe a close relation with the problem to quantize natural Darboux coordinates for moduli spaces of flat connections on Riemann surfaces related to the Fenchel-Nielsen coordinates. Our new integral representations finally indicate a possible interpretation of the b-6j symbols as partition functions of three-dimensional N=2 supersymmetric gauge theories., 32 pages, v2: small corrections, v3: another typo

The Schwinger proper-time method is an effective calculation method, explicitly gauge invariant and nonperturbative. We make use of this method to investigate the radiatively induced Lorentz and CPT-violating effects in quantum electrodynamics when an axial vector interaction term is introduced in the fermionic sector. The induced Lorentz and CPT-violating Chern-Simons term coincides with the one obtained using a covariant derivative expansion but differs from the result usually obtained in other regularization schemes. A possible ambiguity in the approach is also discussed., Comment: 11 pages, REVTeX, typos and a few equations corrected, a comment added to the conclusions, acknowledgments added

We construct the supersymmetric completion of quartic $R+R^4$-actions in the ten-dimensional effective action of the heterotic string. Two invariants, of which the bosonic parts are known from one-loop string amplitude calculations, are obtained. One of these invariants can be generalized to an $R+F^2+F^4$-invariant for supersymmetric Yang-Mills theory coupled to supergravity. Supersymmetry requires the presence of $B\wedge R\wedge R\wedge R\wedge R$-terms, ($B\wedge F\wedge F\wedge F\wedge F$ for Yang-Mills) which correspond to counterterms in the Green-Schwarz anomaly cancellation. Within the context of our calculation the $\zeta(3)R^4$-term from the tree-level string effective action does not allow supersymmetrization., Comment: 42 pages, UG-9/92

We revisit quantum field theory anomalies, emphasizing the interplay with diffeomorphisms and supersymmetry. The Ward identities of the latter induce Noether currents of all continuous symmetries, and we point out how these consistent currents are replaced by their covariant form through the appearance of the Bardeen-Zumino currents, which play a central role in our study. For supersymmetry Ward identities, two systematic methods for solving the Wess-Zumino consistency conditions are discussed: anomaly inflow and anomaly descent. The simplest inflows are from supersymmetric Chern-Simons actions in one dimension higher, which are used to supersymmetrize flavor anomalies in $d=4$ and, for $d=2$ $\mathcal{N}=(p,q)$, flavor anomalies with $p,q\leq 3$ and Lorentz-Weyl anomalies with $p,q\leq 6$. Finally, we extend the BRST algebra and the subsequent descent, a necessity for the diffeomorphism anomaly in retrospect. The same modification computes the supersymmetrized anomalies, and determines the above Chern-Simons actions when these exist., 65 pages; v2: fixed minor typos and added references. Version to appear in PRD